And bruno edwin ahlskog



J. R. LEIGHTY AND B. E. AHLSKOG.

ENGINE HOUSE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 4, 191a.

Patented June 24 1919.

J. R. LEIGHTY AND B. E. AHLSKOG.

v ENGINE HOUSE.

APPLICAYION FILED FEB. 4,1918. 1 307,504 Patented June 24, 1919.

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Q K S f r41: NDRIUG PETERS cc Imma-uma. WASHINGTON, u. c,

J. R. LEIGHTY AND B. E. AHLSKDG,

ENGINE HOUSE:

APPLICATIQN HLED FEB.4. 191s.

Patented June 24, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OHN R. LEIGI-ITY, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, AND BRUNO EDWIN AHLSKOG, OF

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS; SAID AHLSKOG ASSIGNOR OF HIS RIGHT TO FOLWELL- AI-ILSKOG- COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A. CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

ENGINE-HOUSE.

Specification of Letters latent.

Patented June 24, 1919.

Application filed February 4, 1918. Serial No. 215,286.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN R. LEIGHTY and BRUNO EDWIN AHLSKOG, citizens of the United States, residing at KansasCityfln the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, and at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, respectively, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Engine-Houses, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates more especially to engine houses, commonly termed round houses, because of their usually being of circular form to accommodate tracks radiating from a turn table. The invention is not necessarily limited in its application to a building for this particular use though the various advantages attained have been sought by us with particular regard to the requirements of an engine house. Thuswe aim especially to overcome certain wellknown objections to and difficulties experienced withthese engine houses as they have heretofore been built. They have generally been frame structures with attendant great fire risk, and there have been numerous 1nstances of heavy loss by destruction of engine houses through catching on fire from sparks thrown off by incoming engines. Inadequate means of eXit for smoke, steam and gases have heretofore prohibited ordinary steel construction on account of destructive effects thereon of the gases. It has usually been thought necessary to make the engine house of considerable height in order to provide for dissipation of smoke, steam and gases in such manner as to make working conditions possible within the house, and this recognized necessity has not only led to greater expense in construction of the house (prohibitively so if of fireproof material), but has also entailed great expense in maintaining working conditions by reason of the fact that a very large volume of air mustbe heated in cold weather. vantage of the engine house as heretofore generally constructed is attributable to the means of exit or escape of smoke, steam and gases. The common expedient has been the I suspension of 'a hood at the point where the smoke-stack of the engine is brought to standstill in a location suitable for carrying on of repair work, the hood commumcat Another disad:

ing with a flueor duct. Such an arrangement makes noprovision for escape of prodnets of combustion while the engine is movmg into the house and approaching the working location. Furthermore there is no assurance that such location will precisely register with the location of the hood, especially considering the necessity for placing the drive Wheels and reciprocating machinery ma certain position in order that necessary work may be done on the locomotive. And when moved to take its stack from under the hood, heedless workmen will build a fresh the without troubling to move the locomotive back- The result of these circumstances has been that much trouble has always come from the collection of smoke, steam and gases within the building. I

Now to meet and overcome all such objections to and difficulties encountered in uses of old forms of engine houses, we have devised a reinforced concrete structure of .minimum height made possible by the creation of smoke ducts in the form of slots extending from end to end of the respective stalls and a combining therewith of water-shedding slabs having both transverse and longi tudinal" pitch. We furthermore avoid all such interior girder construction as might present any obstruction to escaping products of combustion, while at the same time making ample provision for sustaining the roof. Thus we do away with any interior projection of girders adjacent the outlet slot. e employ transverse girders above the roof which constitute in effect continuations of arches and cross the smoke slots at intervals, the sides of the latter constituting the longitudinal peak girders. In the interest of insuring free water flow we terminate these superposed transverse girders short of the valleys between the roof slabs of adjoining stalls.

With the above stated objects in view and others incidental thereto which will later appear, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations of elements, the essentials whereof are recited in theappended claims, and a pre ferred form of embodiment of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in detail hereinafter.

In the drawings which accompany and form part of this specification, Figure l is an outline plan view of an engine house of.

Zontal Sections; Fig. 2 represents a side ele vation of the house; Fig. 3 represents an elevation of the entrance end thereof; Fig. 4L represents an interior elevation looking toward the rear and taken on a section near the rear end of the house; Fig. 5 represents alongitudinal vertical section taken on the line 55 of Fig. l; Fig. 6 represents a cross section taken near the rear 011 the line 66 of Fig. 5 and looking toward the front of the house; Fig. 7 represents a cross section on a larger scale and confined to the region of the monitor or cupola'; Fig. 8 is a detail elevation of the slot closing structure appear ng in section in Fi 7 ;and Fig. 9 is a plan view of this structure. 7

'In the form of construction here shown the engine house is made up of series of radiating stalls separated by rows of supportmg columns, as indicated in Fig. 1, where lines radiating from an indicated turn table represent tracks running into these stalls and over work pits. Thelbe'nts at the rear and at the two sides are closed in with windows as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, and the stallsare supplied at the front with suitable doors as shown in Fig. 3. All of the main elements of the structure from the foundation to the roof are of reinforced concrete. The numeral 2 designates footings upon which are erected columns 3 being those heretofore referred to as occurring between the stalls. Longitudinal girders 4 extend between the capitals of these columns and run the full length of the building, as best illustrated in Figs. 2 and 5, and arches 5 spring from transversely alined columns and extend from side to side of the respective stalls. Directly over the center of each stall there are other longitudinal girders 6 which also extend the full length of the building. There are two of these for each stall and they are spaced apart to provide a smoke duct 7 in the form of a slot. Roof slabs S extend lengthwise between the arches and crosswise between the girders 4: and 6. It should be here noted that the undersides of these slabs are flush with the girders 6 so that there is no downward projection of the latter within the building, and therefore no obstruction to the ready escape of any smoke, steam or gases that may rise against the slab. It should also be noted that the arches merge into the roof slabs back of the slot so that they do not present downward projections adjacent to the latter. However the arches are not actually interrupted; they extend across the slot in the form of girder sections 5 uniting-with the girders 6 and being continued on the upper sides of the slabs 8 as shown at 5". e j

-The slabs S, of neighboring stalls meet over a girder at with which they are united, and, being given a pitch toward each other, they form a water-shedding valley extending lengthwise over said girder l which may be given a gutter formation as illustrated in the drawings. The girder sections 5" are given a tapering form so as to terminate and merge into the upper sides of the slabs back of the valley in order that the latter may be perfectly clear for the flow of water from front to rear of the roof.

Vith respect to'a longitudinal pitch of the roof, that may be and is here shown as provided without necessary change in transverse pitch, owing to the radial character of the house. It is thus obvious that as the roof section composed of. meeting slabs 8 widens toward the rear the valley formed between these slabs will lower, though the transverse pitch remains uniform. The double pitch of roof thus brought about is best illustrated in Fig. 6 because of this being a vertical cross section taken near the rear of the house looking forward.

It will be obvious that the construction thus far described provides a substantial and fireproof house of minimum height and minimum interior space to be heated, and also that the construction facilitates ready escape of smoke, steam and gases as the same may be emitted from the engine either when moving into the round house or when at a standstill at any location therein. The transverse pitch of the roof slabs will promote the progress of any of these lighterthan-air products of combustion toward the outlet slot that may not pass directly into the same from the stack of the locomotive. It should be noted that the girders 6 which form the slot are horizontal and therefore a uniform vertical relationship obtains at all times between the same and the stack and the top of the locomotive.

Low walls 9 of concrete are erected between the outside columns at the side and rear of the house, the same being supported upon the footings 2 so as not to require continuous excavation and foundations, and these walls will not be tied in by metal reinforeem'ent or otherwise inseparably united with columns or footings. They have no ap re'ciable load to sustain and it is advan tageous to have them subject to ready removal. It sometimes happens that a 1000- motive will get underway accidentally and this has been known to result in the demolishment of an engine house. lVith the rear end walls erected in the manner above described a runaway engine would simply knock out one of these walls and carry away windows and frames without otherwise damaging the building. As to side walls it is desirable that they be readilyremovable for enlargement. of the buildin It will be noted that our design is such as to lend itself to the building on of additional stalls.

It is not desirable that an engine house shall open upward directly into the atmosphere, on account of the fact that the primary function of the structure is to house engines while being worked upon. Therefore we erect upon each pair of girders 6 ,a cupola structure or monitory. This is here shown as comprising uprights 10 preferably of concrete, rising at intervals from the tops of said girders, and a concrete cover slab 1'1 resting upon said uprights. This cupola structure at the rear part of the house, throughout the range of stationary location of the locomotive stack, is preferably made somewhat higher than the balance of the cupola to give increased opportunity for ready escape of the products of combustion when the engine is giving them ofi at a standstill. The spaces between the uprights 10 may be filled as here shown by louver frames 12 of wood construction or non-combustible material, and windows 13 may be set in these frames as indicated in Fig. 5 for the purpose of admitting more light. It will be observed that the building is of such character as to admit of being well lighted throughout and will be so lighted when erected according to the design here shown, besides being thoroughly ventilated.

In extremely cold weather it may be desirable to close the smoke ducts or slots and we take provision for that in such a way as to permit of the slot being closed in sections. This not only has the advantage of facilitating the handling of the closures but also provides for closing up all that portion of a slot beyond which the engine stack has passed while leaving the slot open longer where the stack is standing. Various forms of closures may be employed. The one here shown has advantages of simplicity of construction and ease of operation and avoid ance of metal fittings which wouldsuccumb to the action of locomotive fumes. It comprises fiat slabs 14 of asbestos board fitted against the undersides of the roof slabs 8 and adapted to slide into the smoke slot. The mounting of these asbestos slabs conforms to the slope or pitch of the roof slabs and there is a series of them at each side of the slot. Supporting or guiding frames are anchored beneath the girders 6, each frame comprising side bars 15 and ends bars 15 which project above the side bars so as to receive the asbestos slabs between them while the latter rest upon the side bars. The series of frames will fit together end to end, being anchored to the concrete above by suitable fastenings at the corners, and, as shown most clearly in Fig. 8, the upwardly projecting end bars of two frames will fill the space between adjacent asbestos slabs. As a further means of supporting and guiding the latter,

simple bars 16 are anchored to the roof slabs 8 suitably spaced away from the side bars 15 of the aforesaid supporting and guiding frames. Said frame side bars and these additional bars 16 will obviously uphold the asbestos slabs and properly guide them in being slid back and forth. It will be understood that when the slot or any section of it is to be closed the asbestos slabs at opposite sides will be slid in and will meet at the middle of the slot as indicated by dotted lines in Figs. 7 and 9.

l Vhile the above described construction is Well calculated to fulfil the various objects hereinbefore stated, it must be understood that our invention is susceptible of various forms of embodiment. It is adaptable to engine houses other than of the radial type, such for example, as one having parallel stalls and tracks working in conjunction with a transfer table. In a building of that character the double pitch of roof sections would be attained by an increase in the transverse pitch as the roof slabs extend rearward. In the radial type increased longitudinal pitch may be had by recourse to the same expedient. Transverse beams may be employed instead of arches, and may, if preferred, extend across roof-valleys with suitable drainage holes pierced through them. The low walls at sides and ends may be supported by recessing the columns to receive them, instead of their resting upon the footings. Other variations may be practised within the scope of the invention.

e claim:

1. A structure of the character described the same comprising stalls with dividing columns and longitudinal girders over the series of columns, and a roof comprising longitudinal and horizontal peak girders over the middle of the stalls spaced apart in pairs to form smoke slots running the length of the roof, and water-shedding cover-slabs extending between girders of neighboring pairs and inclined toward each other and uniting in a valley inclined lengthwise of the roof over the first-mentioned girders.

- 2. A structure of the character defined in claim 1 in which transverse girders extend on the upper sides of the slabs and unite with the longitudinal girders forming the smoke slots, the slabs being fiush with the undersides of said girders.

S. A structure of the character defined in claims 1 and 2 in which the transverse girders merge into the slabs short of the midway line leaving a free valley for water flow lengthwise the roof.

4. A structure of the character defined in claims 1 and 2 having arches which spring from the columns and span the distance between valleys of nei hboring roof-sections being substantially ush with the under" &

sides of the slabs adjacent the smoke slots, and also with the underside of the girders forming said slots.

5. In an engine house of the type employing radiating stalls, and of the structural character described, a roof comprising longitudinal peak girders arranged in pairs centrally over the stalls and spaced to form a substantially continuous smoke outlet slot extending the length of each stall, and 10 water-shedding slabs extending from girders of neighboring pairs and pitched toward each other and uniting to form a valley, said slabs widening to conform with the radial character of stall whereby the valley formed 15 between them is given a longitudinal pitch.

JOHN R. LEIGHTY. BRUNO EDWIN AHLSKOG.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

